Black Butterfly
by her-blood-was-indigo
Summary: When Regina falls ill, her family is unable to save her as she succumbs to sudden death. A story of remembrance, tragedy, and love. (Will continue if prompted).
1. To Lose the Fight

She blinked open her eyes slowly, raising her hands to wipe away the sleep. As her vision focused, she realized she was in a hospital room.

_What?_

Her mind flashed back to the events of the previous night, a night full of unexplainable coughing and fatigue. Henry had stopped by with Emma, and she had reluctantly given up her place on the sofa to let them in.

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><p><em>Regina was fully aware of the bags under her eyes, her unacceptably ruffled appearance, and loud unpleasant cough, however she couldn't turn her son away. She remembered what had happened the last time she'd tried to do so with a note. She wasn't sure letting him see her this way was okay either. She felt so weak she barely made it to the door, and strangely she couldn't stop trembling.<em>

_"Mom," Henry whispered, wrapping his arms around her. She returned the gesture and kissed the top of his head, as she always did when they saw each other. Emma just gave her an awkward smile, but a sincere concern clouded her eyes when she fully took in the shivering state Regina was in. _

_"Regina, are you okay? You don't look...well...Well."_

_She sighed and retracted from Henry's embrace. "I'm quite aware of that Swan. What do you need?"_

_Emma shrugged, "Henry wanted to stay a few days with you. I'm sorry I didn't call first, I've been pretty busy with all of this Snow Queen crap and I've lost my phone," Regina snorted weakly at the latter statement, "But I figured you wouldn't mind."_

_Henry looked at her, "Are you sure you're okay?" _

_She smiled faintly, "Of course, and yes you can stay. For as long as you like."_

_Emma still hadn't moved from the doorway and Regina sighed again and told herself to be polite._

_"You're welcome to stay for dinner, Emma," she rasped, and the savior looked shocked before she smiled hesitantly again, "Um, really?"_

_She nodded, remembering how much spaghetti she had prepared previously because of her having misread the amount in the box._

_Regina took a few slow steps towards the kitchen before a sudden weakness swept her off her feet. She watched the ground rush up to meet her in fear, but before it could she felt arms wrap around her torso and set her on her cold wood floor._

_"Mom!" she heard Henry yell as blonde hair drifted onto her shoulders as Emma examined her closely. She brushed her off in annoyance with herself that she them see her this way._

_She soon erupted into a horrible coughing fit and could hardly stand the pain in her stomach, throat and chest. She glanced out of the corner of her eye to Emma and Henry exchanging a worried gaze. _

_"It's nothing really, honestly I'm fine. I just haven't been feeling well that's all. It will pass," Regina rasped with a forced smile and dismissive wave of her hand._

_"Regina, you took a few steps and nearly passed out, your skin is almost green, and you sound like you've been possessed or something. You need to go to the hospital."_

_"Oh don't be ridiculous," Regina scoffed, "I'll just wait it out for a few days." Truth be told however, Regina had tried using her magic on this illness, which always worked on physical and sometimes magical sickness, but this wasn't healing. _

_Before she knew it, everything went black and the urging and prodding for her to stay awake ceased from her mind._

* * *

><p><em>She had slid in and out of consciousness as she was transported into the hospital, remembering Henry as he squeezed her hand painfully hard and promised he would be with her soon as she <em>_was whisked away on the stretcher. She had tried to squeeze in response, but she had not enough strength to do so._

_A while later she woke up for a short while, seeing Emma and Henry through the glass doors talking to her nurse. She could only just make out their faint voices on the other side of the thick glass._

_"She's stable for now, I'll give you a call if anything happens. Take Henry home and try to get some rest."_

_Emma turned and looked her way, whispering something with a somber expression and then leading Henry out the heavy glass doors._

_Lonely hours came and went until she started to feel the familiar weakness creep through her head to the rest of her body, tempting her to sleep. She was surprised at how much force it had and relaxed, even though a nagging feeling in the back of her mind told her exactly how close to death she was. She entertained the thought of Henry's first moments with her, her first kiss with Robin, her regrets and her achievements, her wishes and her hope. She wasn't ready yet. Wasn't ready. She lied still and let her eyes close as she gave in, wishing she had someone, anyone else's company as her machine began to screech rapidly, her breathing became complicated, and she spiraled into a deep abyss of darkness._

* * *

><p>It was 11 'o' clock in the night when she got the call. Emma had been thinking of every possible thing that could have been causing Regina's illness. She had gone over magic, The Snow Queen, murder, even a slow suicide after Robin Hood left her. She had told her parents, Gold, Belle, and Elsa about what went on when they had arrived home, and they made a weak attempt to comfort Henry as he bolted to his room, trying to hide his tears.<p>

_Henry leaned into her as they hugged into the doorway of their small apartment, and stepped back to look into her eyes for an honest answer._

"_Will she be okay?"_

_Emma was at a loss for words. She truly had no idea what was even going on, she couldn't tell him yes, she couldn't tell him no._

_She avoided his intense stare and looked down at her hands, "I don't know kid. Regina's been going through some really harsh stuff lately, and I don't even know how she got this way. All we can do is hope she hangs in there."_

_Henry held back tears, "I just saw her the other day. I had a nightmare an d snuck out at night. She was perfectly healthy then."_

_Emma remembered something and put her arm around him, pulling her son close once more and taking out her phone._

_She called Robin and told him to come to their house immediately, "Alright I'll be right there."_

_"What happened?" she heard the concerned voice of her father and the footsteps of her mother._

_She turned to them and sighed,"Regina invited us in for dinner and before she got to the kitchen she collapsed and started coughing. I mean, she hadn't looked well when she answered the door, but she was acting perfectly fine until that happened."_

_She was met with silence so she carried on, "We called the ambulance because she wasn't getting up and I'm a little rusty with my magic right now. They said she was in stable condition when we left and that they would call us if she got any worse."_

_Snow placed her hand over her mouth in shock as Elsa came downstairs to join them. She sensed the serious atmosphere in the room and her face contorted with concern._

_"What's happened?"_

_They told her and the platinum blonde sat down on the sofa, thinking for a moment._

_"Do you know what might have caused this?"_

_Emma shrugged her shoulders, "It's beyond me. If the doctors don't know, I don't know."_

_"Maybe someone does."_

_Emma thought for a moment, "Rumpelstilskin?"_

_Elsa nodded while Emma dialed his number and turned the call on speaker-phone._

_"Who is this?"_

_"It's Emma, we have a problem."_

_"Ah, Miss Swan, always nice to hear from you. What is it you need?"_

_She started to pace, "Regina's ill and we had to take her into the hospital. She collapsed and started coughing, and she looked as if she hadn't slept in a week."_

_"Sounds like physical problem dearie. Got nothing to do with me."_

_"Yes but Henry just saw her the other day and he said she was perfectly healthy. That kind of sickness doesn't just come overnight. The doctors don't know either. But she was trembling a lot. Not like she was cold, it looked involuntary."_

_There was a small silence over the phone, "Trembling?"_

_She remembered back to when she met her at the door, "Yes."_

_"I know what happened."_

_She looked at her family with wide eyes, and they did the same. _

_"Let's hear it."_

_"Her magic is being drained."_

_"What? Why?"_

_"When there's a small amount of red in your heart that cannot fight it's way through the darkness, and you still practice dark magic, eventually it will stop beating. Especially when that person has been through a recent emotional or mental struggle of some sort. That's the price everyone has to pay for practicing dark magic if they're is still good inside of them."_

_He cut the line and left everyone there, his words echoing in their minds._

_There was a knock at the door, and she opened it, leading Robin to sit next to Elsa._

* * *

><p>The ringtone jolted her out of her thoughts as she saw the number of the hospital across the bright little screen. She immediately grabbed her phone from her lap and held it to her ear, her heart pounding in panic of the news she knew she would be receiving.<p>

"Hello?"

"Is this Emma Swan?" an even female voice she recognized as Regina's nurse asked.

"It is."

She heard a sigh from the other end of the phone, "Please come to the hospital right away..." there was a pause, "I'm afraid Miss Mills has passed."

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><p><em><strong>Please review and tell what you think! I might do one more chapter. :)<strong>_


	2. Help!

Hello everyone! I'm sorry for the lack of new chapters for this story, however I've run into a major writer's block. Feel free to leave some ideas in the reviews and I will try to incorporate the best ones in the next chapters. Thank you for your help! Love you all!


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